Strategy should evolve out of the mud of the marketplace, not in the antiseptic environment of an ivory tower.

What should a brand leader advertise?Brand leadership, of course. Leadership is the single most important motivating factor in consumer behavior.

To get into the consumer's mind, you have to sacrifice. You have to reduce the essence of your brand to a single thought or attribute. An attribute that nobody else already owns in your category.

Positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect.

Positioning is how you differentiate yourself in the mind of the prospect. That is, you position the product in the mind of the prospect.

A laser is a weak source of energy. A laser takes [only] a few watts of energy and focuses them in a coherent stream of light. But with a laser, you can drill a hole in a diamond or wipe out cancer.

If you want to build a brand, you must focus your branding efforts on owning a word in the prospect's mind. A word that nobody else owns.